Actions Speak Louder Than Words
by Danax
Summary: Bed. Wrinkled sheets and she was tangled in them. Warmth had vanished long ago. It was just her and the sheets. Had it ever been real? she thought hazily. Main pairing: GenmaSaku with some KakaSaku. Lemons.
1. Hit List

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. **

**A/N: Hey, I know that Shiranui Genma is 16 years older than Sakura in the anime and manga. But that's too old for my fic. So, I'm deciding that he's only 6 years older. If you have a problem with that, don't read this. **

**And, I've only read the manga up to chapter 283 (but I'm reading as much as I can). For the past two years, I've been busy with work and school. So, the plot will differ from the manga and anime. But, Sai is in the team Kakashi. **

**Oh, btw, this will be dirrrty fic. Rated for M for a reason. **

Pairing: [GenmaSaku][KakaSaku] but hints of other pairings such as (ShikaIno)

Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto: 23

Kakashi: 35

Genma: 29

Sai: 27

_thoughts_

"dialogue"

* * *

Bed. Wrinkled sheets and she was tangled in them. Warmth had vanished long ago. It was just her and the sheets. _Had it ever been real? _she thought hazily and looked to her right. Alone.

She got up from the bed and picked up her clothes from the floor. The bathroom was still a mess. There was a small window that made the room drown in the yellow sunlight illuminating the mess. She didn't care. She took her toothbrush, rinsed with cold water and added some paste on it.

_FLASHBACK_

"_I need you", he whispered into her hear and nibbled it. She believed him. Warm. Soft._

_He kissed her neck lightly and bit it, gently. Seventh heaven. Could life get any better? Slowly, he took her shirt off. The air was cold but his hands kept her warm._

_He caressed her back and sides with slow and long movements making her shiver. She smiled a little and pulled his shirt off of him. She let the shirt fall on the floor and kissed him lightly, teasing him. _

_THE END OF THE FLASHBACK_

She blinked the flashback away and continued brushing her teeth. She felt used. But that wasn't the case. She knew it was all in her head. Their thing was casual and that was sex and occasional dinner or drink at the bar. Nothing more. Wrong.

She put the toothbrush back into a mug at the sink. She washed her face with the coldest water she could get from the tap. Even after drying up her face, she could still feel the cold.

_FLASHBACK_

"_You might be the most interesting female ninja that I've ever met so far", he said and grinned. He was holding his wineglass close to his lips and drank a little from it._

_Hand. He placed his hand on her thigh and she felt the warmth of it through her pants. _

"_You aren't so bad yourself", she said smiling. Fire. _

_His lips were on hers…_

_THE END OF THE FLASHBACK_

She bit her tongue to end the flashback. Pain always brought her mind into the present. Remembering would lead into emotions and that would lead somewhere where Genma wouldn't go.

She quickly combed her hair, sorting out the tangles. She left the apartment soon as she was ready and went to the training grounds in the woods. Training had always been the most effective way to keep thoughts away. But had she done anything else for the past months? She was with him during the nights, usually, and daytime she was always training.

* * *

Ino sighed at the sight of her friend wearing herself out by training too much. She had been sitting on a bench there for some time now. The training grounds were in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees but the round area didn't have any trees, only logs.

She saw Sakura doing a series of powerful punches on a log in front of her and shattering the log with a final sidekick. The blonde woman closed her eyes for a moment and tried to think how she could help her friend.

But the more she thought about it, the clearer it was, she couldn't help the pink haired woman. Sakura needed to learn herself anything she was supposed to learn during her lifetime. No learning happens if there's no error, mistake or lecture.

When she opened her eyes again, Sakura was sitting next to her. She was drinking from a worn out water bottle. She was sweaty and breathing heavily.

"Hey you", Ino said and smiled lightly. She tapped her hand a couple of times on the jade eyed woman's thigh.

"Hi", she answered as she had stopped drinking, "stalking me?"

"Far from it", the blonde woman laughed, "I just thought that my little baby would want to know his or hers future godmother better." Ino placed her hands on her stomach and smiled happily. She was expecting, happy and glowing. She was on her third month so the belly was showing a little and the weird thing was that she didn't even care that she was gaining weight and becoming bigger by the minute.

"Hello baby. Your auntie needs to work out some more. But we'll play when you decide to… pop out", Sakura was talking to Ino's stomach.

"Pop out?" the blonde laughed. "Pop out is the first thing that comes in mind? You're a medical ninja for god's sake."

The pink haired woman looked at her friend, eyes flaming. "Should I say when you come out of your mother's womb all bloody and covered in icky stuff—"

"—it might hear! Stop! Pop out was perfect!" the blonde woman laughed.

"Thought so, too", Sakura said smiling and leaned on her friend, "so, how's the daddy?"

"He's… troublesome."

"Figured. But you two are so in love. It's nice."

"Mmm. Sometimes. But so are you", Ino said sighing and looked to the edge of the forest. She thought it was weird how the area was round and surrounded by a forest. Wondered how it had been made.

"I'm trying not to. Should I just move on or continue waiting that he's decided that he can do relationships?"

"Do both", the blonde woman laughed. Memories of her having fun a few years ago, dating everyone at the same time flooded in her mind. _It was fun, as long as it lasted…_, she thought and smiled.

"I'm not you", Sakura said and elbowed her lightly.

"No, that's true. But you're a woman", Ino said and stared at her. She thought that it was every woman's rightful advantage to toy with men. And, she lived by that… or had lived by that.

"Yeah, you got a point in there."

"Anywho", the blonde said and tapped her friends thigh again, "we should go and eat something. I'm starving."

Sakura's gaze went from Ino to the training ground and back to her friend. "I know you want to train but I want to eat and I don't want to do it alone. And if mommy ain't happy, nobody's happy", the blue eyed woman said matter-of-factly and got up from the wooden bench.

"Sure, I'll just get my stuff."

She stretched out her hands and breathed in deeply, savoring the taste of summer. She waited as her friend took her things from the ground.

* * *

Kakashi stuffed his orange book back into his chest pocket and scratched and knocked on the door in front of him. He didn't have to wait for long for an answer. Ino opened the door and for a moment, he thought he had knocked on the wrong door.

"Hi! She's sharpening some… weapons", the blonde woman said and stepped aside from the doorway. He walked in and took his shoes off.

"Hiya!" the pink haired woman yelled from another room.

"Yo!" he said and followed Ino to the living room. The pregnant woman sat on the couch in the middle of the room. She picked up a magazine beside her and started flipping through it. He wondered if it was boring to be pregnant.

Sakura was sitting in front of the sofa on the floor. There were two piles of kunais next to her, one on her left and one on her right. "Wassup?" she asked and shifted her gaze to look at him.

"We're having a mission tomorrow", he said and watched closely as his former student sharpened her weapons. "Why so many kunais? Is it because you throw them like a girl and lose half of them during one mission?" he laughed.

She took quickly a kunai from the sharp pile and threw it at him. He caught it mid air before it could hit his face. "Okay, you throw girlish. Not exactly like a girl."

"Better. So, what's the mission about? Why isn't Tsunade telling me this herself and who's going?" she asked.

"She told me quickly as she passed me by at the streets on her way to a… bar. Apparently a rough week. And… Genma is going with us", he said and stared at her trying to figure out if there would a problem. He saw a slight hesitation in her eyes as they wandered around the room before finding his stare, again.

"It's okay. He's a ninja, I'm a ninja. It's not like we are together. Or were."

"Good. We're just going to eliminate a missing ninja and the company he might have. And we leave as soon as he has woken up in the morning", Kakashi said but realized he had said too much.

"What? Is he partying? With… someone?" she asked quickly.

"I… Yes", he sighed and looked at Ino hoping for some kind of help. The blonde woman just stared at him like he had committed a crime.

He walked to the couch she was next to and helped her on the couch and sat down himself, too. "He's just the commitment kind of a guy", he sighed and put his hand around her shoulders.

"Yeah, I know."

"I should go", he said quietly. As he was about to get up, Sakura's hand was on his thigh preventing him from getting from the couch.

"Nah, stay. I like the company, plus, I've got some daggers that need sharpening", she said and smiled partly at him.

"Sure."

* * *

Genma scratched the back of his head and looked at the sky. There were no clouds and sun was up high in the sky. His headache was something not from this world and the brightness didn't help. He inhaled deeply and started walking to the gates.

His night before hadn't been one of the best ones. The woman he had been with the night before, she turned out to be an after-sex-psycho and he found himself wondering what the hell had he been doing. He had had a weird feeling he couldn't place for the past weeks and it bothered him. Sometimes it was stronger and sometimes he didn't feel it.

He had reached the gates and he noticed Kakashi hugging Sakura. He felt weird again but decided to ignore it. He wondered if she was okay because he knew that the Copy ninja wasn't very fond of public affection except when needed.

"Morning, wassup?" he said and they let each other go. She looked up to Kakashi quickly and turned to look at Genma, smiling.

"Hi", she said still smiling and looked away.

"Yo. Let's go? I'll give you two the details on the way, we're in a small hurry. We need to go to a small island next to the Water Country and we have less than three days", the Copy ninja explained and Genma and Sakura nodded in response.

_4 days later…_

The pink haired woman looked around and tried to catch her breath. She needed help and she had no idea where her companions were. She was almost out of chakra and she couldn't heal herself or the win the fight she was fighting.

There were two pairs of dark eyes staring at her. "Who sent you?" the other one asked. His voice didn't sound kind but she didn't expect it to.

She didn't answer and took the time to breathe as they tried to get information from her. The other man moved quickly behind her and pulled her hair forcefully back. Her throat was exposed to the man who had spoken earlier. She couldn't see him but judging from the rustling sounds she knew he was taking something from his pocket.

"I'd talk if I were you", the man behind her said whispered into her ear. His breath felt moist on the skin around her ear. She hated it, it made her guts twist and she wished she could rip the guts out from his body.

She felt something cold on her throat and realized it was a kunai. She couldn't reach her own kunais because the man behind her was holding her hands with his other hand.

"Baby, talk to me", the man in front of her said.

She said nothing and was happy that her breathing had slowed to an almost normal rhythm she hoped her heart would also slow down. He moved the kunai on her throat a little, drawing blood. Suddenly both of the men were violently ripped away from her.

"Sakura, you alright?" she heard Genma asking.

"Yeah", she said with a crooked voice.

It was dark but she saw 4 shapes moving around the room. One of them collapsed on the ground. "Got the other one", Kakashi said and she saw him hovering over him. He was checking his personal objects. That was the protocol, sometimes the missing ninjas had something that belonged to their old village, something that wasn't supposed to go into daylight.

She heard another body fall on the floor and stood up. Genma walked beside her and put her arm around his shoulders. "You alright?" he asked, again but with a softer voice.

"Yeah. Where were you?" she asked.

"Hey. I found something", the Copy ninja said and walked to them, holding a piece of paper. He had lighted up a lighter and was reading a piece of paper.

"What?" she asked and leaned on the brown haired man next to her a little more. More than she needed to. She was glad to be touching him.

"This is a hit list", he said and her body tensed up, "there are some names from our village on it."

"What?" Genma asked and she felt his body get tense, too.

"We need to get back as soon as possible."

_Why would someone write the targets' names on a list? _she thought in a pure confusion. She shook her head a little and looked up to see Genma's face. It was too dim to read his emotions but she knew they were as confused as she was.

"This is bad", she said all of their thoughts aloud.

"Yeah", the brown haired man agreed.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, please tell me what you thought about the first chapter. More coming up later!**


	2. ENQ

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

**A/N: I'd be really glad if you told me what you think about this fic. Anywho, here's a new chapter, I hope you enjoy it!!**

**

* * *

**

Genma was feeling uneasy. During the years he had been ninja, nobody and no village had ever paid rogue ninjas to take off the best ninjas in different hidden villages. Ninjas of Konoha, Suna and Kumo were on the list they had found during their mission. Tsunade had confirmed that they were targeted and they would be cooperating with Raikage and Gaara to solve this. His instincts told him it was going to be something worse than just a hit list or a few casualties.

He was sitting on his kitchen chair leaning to his elbows which were on the table. He had a full cup of black coffee in front of him. He picked it up and realized it was cold. His shoulders slumped as he put the mug back on the table. He loved his coffee and his restlessness had ruined a perfect cup of oblivion.

There was something he had missed, some small detail which could solve who was behind the hit list. He knew he had the answer but he couldn't find it from his mind. He shrugged his head and got up from the chair. He took the full mug and walked to the sink and poured its contents down into the drain. He rinsed the mug and there was a few knocks on his door. He felt Sakura's presence there.

"It's open", he said and the door opened. The pink haired ninja walked inside, closed the door and took her shoes off. He turned to look at her. She was wearing black shorts and a dark green t-shirt. He could see her womanly curves and he enjoyed the sight.

"Hey", she said smiling and walked to him. She hopped to sit on the kitchen counter next to him. Swaying her legs a little back and forth gave him a better flow of mental images.

"Well, hey. What brings you here?" he asked grinning. He knew what was coming next. She'd say something witty, he'd reply with something equally witty. He'd move closer, trace his fingers from her ankles to her hips… and the rest always varied.

She smiled a little and locked her eyes on his. "I have an itch and I need you to scratch it away", she said.

Slowly, he moved closer to her. Her knees were touching his waist. He leaned closer, brought his lips close to her right ear and whispered: "Tell me, where is this itch? Where do I need to **scratch**?" He emphasized the word scratch by lowering his tone.

"It moves from a place to another."

"Sounds tricky."

"It's not", she said smiling.

He smiled to himself and gently pulled her legs apart. Genma took a small step forward, placed his left hand on the small of her back and with his right hand, he traced her bare skin from her ankle to the edge of her shorts. Her body quivered from his touch. He kissed her neck lightly and she took off the scarf from his hair. He placed his other hand too on the small of her back and pulled her to him. She wrapped her legs around him. He spun them around and thought about his options; bed, couch, wall, table...

"Floor", she breathed out and bit his neck gently. He laid carefully laid them on the floor, he was on top of her leaning on his hands and knees.

She took his vest and shirt off with a few swift moves. She kissed and bit his shoulder and he felt high. His hand slid to her side tugging her t shirt off of her, she assisted the stripping by arching her back and lifting her head. He enjoyed the view; her soft skin and dark green lacy bra. He traced kisses from her neck to her stomach, around her bellybutton and to the edge of her shorts. With slow movements, he opened the button of her shorts and peeled them off of her.

Her body was shivering and he was sure it wasn't from cold. He played with the edge of her panties, letting his fingers every now and then slip under them. Knowing exactly what she wanted, he was preparing to give her all that, but with a small waiting and a little teasing.

Her fingers were in his hair tugging them and playing with them. His hand slipped under her back and he unhooked her bra. He stripped her from the lacy thing that had covered her breasts. First, he gave her nipple a light kiss. Then he nibbled it lightly hearing a high: "Ah", from Sakura. With rushed and unsteady movements, she opened the button of his Jounin pants and she slid them off of him using her feet.

All the time they had done this together, she had always become anxious, rushed and ready to melt under (or on top of) him. He would only slow down that she probably thought of something agonizing and excruciating. But hearing her beg was a prize itself and the rest was the cherry on top. Or maybe the other way around…

She kissed and sucked his throat, gripped his hair and rocked against him.

He shuddered and let his hand find the way under her panties. First touching lightly made her moan and arch her back. Slowly, he let his fingers slip into her and felt her muscles clamping on them.

"Genma", she whispered in a tone that made him feel animalistic. But he regained himself pretty quickly and tore the panties. He'd buy her new ones. She had slid his boxers off the same way as his Jounin pants.

He moved to between her legs but only the tip of him was inside of her. She moaned loudly and tried to push herself closer but he was holding her hips down. He had the control and he wouldn't give it away lightly. "Genma", she tried to scream but to him it sounded more like a whimper.

"Yes?" he whispered and moved himself a little only to tease her more.

"I want you", she said and locked her eyes with his. Her eyes were so begging.

He obliged, starting with slow movements. She tried to speed up the pace by rocking against him but he was still holding her down. He slid into her deep and out almost completely only to repeat it again.

She was breathing heavily and her eyes were closed. He enjoyed watching her reactions to every thrust, kiss or bite. She was very sensitive and he took full advantage of that. Making her feel things she never dreamed of feeling was rewarding. She'd scream his name in four different keys and in three different octaves.

"Faster", she begged and he sped up.

He felt himself being closer to the white oblivion so he slowed down and found the woman under her was having an orgasm. Her muscles clamped hard on him and he stopped his movements and waited her to regain herself. The moment she opened her eyes, he started moving again. But now deeper and faster than before.

Her hands were on his lower back trying to bring him closer, deeper. His thrusts become more fervent and his breathing more unsteady.

"Gen—" she screamed but it got lost somewhere and she shut her eyes. He felt her having a new orgasm. With three more hard thrusts, he was there too.

* * *

Smelling the aroma of coffee, Genma opened his eyes only to find Sakura, straddling him with two mugs of coffee in her hands. The sight, aroma and the feel of her on him all combined was the closest thing to heaven on earth. He smiled widely at her and she laughed a little. She moved a little back so he was able to sat up and take the other mug from her.

"Morning", she said smiling. Her eyes shone.

"Mmm", he mmm'ed after drinking some of the hot liquid, "morning. A hell of a way to wake up."

"Yeah", she was still smiling. His eyes traced her long and messy hair to her breasts that unfortunately were covered by a black t shirt that was his and all the way to her legs on either side of his thighs. He wondered how much or how little she was wearing under that shirt. "Stop looking me like that", she laughed, "I might get a new itch."

"Is that a promise?" he asked grinning, "Or a dare?"

She laughed aloud and drank rest of her coffee. She leaned on her left and placed the mug on his nightstand. "It's a double dare."

"Sounds more like a promise", he said and put his own mug on the nightstand, too. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him. He fell back on the bed she being on top.

***

Genma had a lot of fun watching the woman limping out of his apartment. Maybe had been too rough with her? Though, she had come asking for it. After curing her "itch" and taking her to bed, he had gotten the "itch". Their sex life was never boring like it sometimes was with other women.

He took a quick shower and dragged his Jounin uniform on. He was ready to see if there was any new information about the hit lists or some missions he could take. It had been four days from his latest mission, which was a lot. Normally, he was sent to missions with only one free day between them. _'The price of being Anbu'_, he thought as he stepped out of his apartment.

The crisp morning air refreshed his energy. He walked fast to the Jounin HQ hoping that his masked friend hadn't taken the best mission already. Sometimes even Sakura beat them to it and took the most intriguing mission. But that was rare, he had noticed that lately she had concentrated on training harder and doing missions with small groups. If someone asked him, he'd say she was studying the team leaders and maybe later applying to be one.

When he stepped into the HQ he didn't sense the Copy ninja or the pink haired ninja, which made him hope he had a small chance of getting a good mission. He walked to the ninja in charge of assigning the missions.

"Do you have anything good for me?" Genma asked from the man behind the desk. The ninja lifted his gaze to look at him.

"Shiranui, it's your lucky day", the ninja said, "A rogue has a death wish on him."

The ninja gave him a file with the letter A printed on the cover as a sign of the level of the mission. _'So, it's elimination. I can do that'_, he thought happily and flipped the file open. "I guess Hatake and Haruno haven't been here, yet?" he asked and the ninja laughed aloud.

"They left some time ago. ENQ", he told him.

Genma grinned to himself and decided to walk back to his apartment, get some equipment and find the missing ninja. It was his lucky day.

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura were in a café in a small town quite near Konoha. She had ordered a vanilla tea with milk and he was drinking coffee. She was leaning on her elbow which was on the small table and her left hand was on the table and the Copy ninja was caressing it. Every now and then she pretended to laugh whole heartedly at something marvelous he had said.

"It's the guy on the table nearest the exit. Right?" she asked. She had leaned forward over the table to him and he nodded.

They were wearing their civilian clothes, he was wearing a white t shirt and black jeans and no mask. Sakura, on the other hand was wearing a white cotton dress and a brown bolero. She didn't feel comfortable in a dress but at least it was loose enough to be able to fight.

"We'll follow when he leaves", he said quietly and received a nod from her. She drank some of her tea and smiled widely.

"Honey! We should go to a spa after when you're finished selling that house! Oh my, just think about it. A quiet day in spa", she said happily and for a moment there, she had succeeded making him look incredibly surprised and uncomfortable, maybe. She wasn't sure, she hadn't had a lot of experience reading his facial expressions.

He laughed a little and said: "Sure, whatever you want. Just as long as you remember that the big pool is for adults only."

She glared at him wondering how she'd kill him the minute they were back at home. She'd choke him, no, she'd make him drown into a water bucket. She had to restrain herself from saying anything witty back because she'd blow up their cover. She just laughed and glared at him.

"He's on the move", he said and drank the rest of his coffee.

"I'm getting a head ache. Can we go home already?" she asked and rubbed her temple.

He placed his hand over hers and said: "Sure. We can go and get some aspirin on the way home."

They were sure their target Takamasa Katsu had many bodyguards everywhere he went. He was a rich lowlife who had rogue ninjas in service. People paid him to get other people dead. Their mission was to find out if he knew anything about the hit lists that had ninjas from different villages.

Sakura and Kakashi walked out of the café and his arm was around her shoulders. "He's heading to his hotel", he whispered and she nodded.

It was useful having the same mission with Kakashi because his sense of smell was something impeccable. Also, missions in small towns helped; there weren't a lot of places to hide. The center was approximately four blocks and it wasn't hard to figure out where Takamasa was headed to.

"Some dark alley and we run. The moment he's alone, we'll interrogate", she said.

"Yes", he said and they turned to a smaller alley. There were some tiny shops and a little people but once they turned to another alley, they were alone.

"Nobody suspects if two kids are running around the town with masked presences. No sense of chakra, the kids are civilian to everyone", she said aloud.

"Yes."

They masked their presences and did henge no jutsus. She looked like a 6-year-old little girl with black hair and he looked like an 8-year-old boy with brown hair. "Let's go!" she laughed and they ran toward the hotel. On the way to the hotel, they'd playfully push each other, play tag and laugh.

When they reached the hotel, they started walking toward the elevators but a woman from reception caught up with them. "Where are your parents? You look awfully young to be here alone" she asked and bent down to them.

"In room 293. I have the key", Kakashi said and pulled a key from his pocket showing it to the woman.

"Alright. Well, I can take you to your room. I bet your parents are worried", the woman said and offered her hand to Sakura. She was about to accept it but Kakashi started speaking: "No thank you. We never get to ride the elevator alone. And I think I'm old enough to be in the elevator without a grown-up. I'll see that my sis won't run inside."

The woman was a bit taken aback from the Copy ninja's words but seemed to believe the little boy. She smiled widely and nodded, "Okay, but be careful."

"Thank you ma'am", the little boy said.

"Thaaaanks!" Sakura giggled and took Kakashi's hand. She pressed the call button to the elevators and watched as the numbers changed on the screen above the metallic doors. When the elevator reached the ground floor, they went in and Kakashi pressed the button 20.

"If there are guards by the door, I can put them to sleep easily. You'll go immediately to Katsu and I'll take care of the rest?" she asked.

"Yes. But you need to remove Takamasa's memory after it."

"Okay."

When they reached the top floor, he started walking slowly the hallway. He smelled the air trying to find which Katsu's room was. She was walking behind her and checking for any ninja presences around.

"Not on this floor", he said.

"The stairs are next to the elevator", she notified and they started walking back to where they had entered the floor. They stairs were separated from the hallway by a glass door. There was a sign on the door saying "For Emergencies Only". She hopped down the two cases of stairs silently and he walked calmly. Too calmly considering his pretend age, she had thought but ignored it. They were alone in the stairs.

She started concentrating on ninjas' presences and felt 3 ninjas on the floor. She peeked through the glass door and saw two ninjas in the hallway standing in front of a door. "I think it's them", she said quietly and he nodded.

"I'll go and put them to sleep but they need to fall on the ground **silently**_"_, she said and opened the door. The ninjas turned their gaze straight to her and she smiled widely. The ninja on the left side of Katsu's door was a man and he had black hair and green eyes, to her he seemed about the same age as she really was. The ninja on the right side of the door was also a man but older and his hair was red. "Hiya! What are you doing?" she asked and walked to them.

The ninjas looked annoyed at her but ignored her.

"Hey… are you like… real ninjas? I've always wanted to be ninja!" she said and took a step toward them. She could touch both of them in a blink of an eye and put them to sleep. "But my mom says it's too dangerous. She says I can be a ballerina or a florist but not a ninja", she said.

The ninja with black hair turned his head to look at her. "We are ninjas and we'll beat you up if you don't shut up and go. **Now**."

She made her jaw quiver a little and both of the ninjas looked stressed the moment they realized she was about to cry. Taking advantage of their confusion, quickly she gathered chakra to both of her index fingers. She touched the men and they fainted. She caught the red haired man and Kakashi was already there and he had caught the other man.

"Shouldn't have talked that much", he whispered and she knew he was right. But she needed to do something to get them off their guards.

They undid their jutsus but kept their presences hidden. Slowly and silently, he opened the door. She checked the room and noticed it was somewhat of a living room. There was one ninja and she rushed to him taking him down. She was on top of him and before he could struggle, she had already put him deep asleep. She got up from the floor and took a better look around. There were two sets of leather sofas and a TV set and stereos. _'Fancy'_, she thought as she looked out of the window and saw the view. It was a high price suite and she wouldn't have minded living there. On her right the room turned into a kitchenette where there were small table with two chairs. She walked from the living room – kitchenette to the bedroom where she found the two men.

Kakashi had his hand on Takamasa's throat and he was up against the wall.

"What do you know about the hit list?" the silver haired ninja asked sternly.

"I don't know who ordered the assassinations", the man against the wall said evenly. Kakashi squeezed his throat a bit harder making the man gasp for air. "Okay, there is a man in Water Country who might know something about that. I have personally nothing to do with it. It's too dangerous", the man croaked. His voice sounded like he had only eaten cobwebs and sand.

The Copy ninja seemed to loosen his grip a bit on the man. "You could be lying."

"Do I look like I could take you on? Or her?" he asked shifting his gaze to Sakura, "I'd have to if I wanted to assassinate ninjas from three different hidden villages. You saw how my ninjas couldn't do a damn thing for you two."

She thought about what he said and he was right. The moment the ninjas on the list found out who was ordering the assassinations and who were carrying on the missions, they were doomed. It seemed Takamasa only assassinated civilians.

"He might be telling the truth", she said.

"Yeah", the Copy ninja said and let go of the man's throat. He slid down the wall on to the floor, gasping and coughing.

"I am telling the t-truth", the man said angrily and started coughing more. "The man in Water Country, his name is Tatsuya Sasaki. He's a ninja himself and he has some s-ranked criminals working for him. He's one of the few men capable of doing something this big. That's all I know."

Kakashi sighed and looked at Sakura who just nodded. She believed him, she had heard the name before and not in a good way. He was one of the most hunted ninjas to date and still loose. He was excellent at hiding. Some people had even associated him with Akatsuki and others with something else but equally bad.

He turned to look at the man on the floor and said: "We know how to find you if there's **anything** mischief going on."

She walked to him slowly and placed her fingers on his head. She gathered some chakra to the tips of her fingers and put him into deep sleep. She went through his memories of the past few minutes and removed them. She repeated it with the ninjas in the living room and hallway.

She hoped when she got back to the village, Naruto and Sasuke were already returned from their training trip. Or that even Sai had gotten back from his mission.

* * *

She had written her mission reports, talked to Tsunade about the information he and Kakashi had learned on their mission. The lady Hokage had been alarmed the moment they had mentioned Tatsuya's name. She had said that she needed to talk to Gaara and the Raikage. It seemed like the situation was getting worse with every passing day.

When Sakura reached her apartment she found her best friends lying on her floor, bruised and bleeding. Sighing she kicked off her shoes and walked to Sasuke and Naruto who were on the middle of the floor in her living room.

"You never learn. Hospital is the place to go when you're hurt. Not my apartment", she said and bent down next to Naruto who was laughing.

"Hiya Sakura. Feel like healing us?" the blond ninja asked, still laughing. His hair and face were dirty. There were old blood stains on his shirt and Jounin pants. He looked like he had just crawled out of a grave and he still managed to laugh.

"Always", she said sarcastically, "I'll go get some towels and water. You take your clothes off."

She walked out from the living room to her bedroom to get a couple of clean towels from her closet. When she had found two black ones (didn't want to have bloody stains on white towels), she went to her bathroom and took a bucket and filled it with warm water. She walked back to the living room. There was a two pile of dirty clothes and two ninjas sitting on her couch half naked. She laughed at the sight of the boys shivering there.

"Don't laugh at us", Sasuke said. His arms were crossed and he looked so lost without his clothes.

"So, how was your training mission?" she asked and walked to the couch. She gave the men the towels and placed the bucket of water in front of them on the floor. "Sasuke, you start cleaning up your wounds and I'll heal Naruto in the meantime and then the other way around."

He nodded and dipped the towel into the warm water.

She started healing the wounds on Naruto's back and chest and they began telling her about their training. They had been gone for a few months, training 24/7 and taking down some S-ranked criminals. They had started in the Lighting Country and ran through the Earth Country. Tsunade had given a mission to them, a list of S-ranked criminals that needed to be assassinated giving them a chance to train alongside completing their mission.

When they had finished their story about their past months and she had healed them, Naruto was up and going through her cabinets trying to find something good to eat. "Why is all the goodies gone?"

"And by goodies you mean…" she asked.

"Cookies. Chocolate. Anything. All you seem to have is… soy and veggies", the blond ninja said with a sigh and closed the cupboard he had been searching.

"Nope. Don't have. But I do have carrots", she sniggered. She took the bucket and the towels and carried them to the bathroom. She poured down into the drain and left it on the floor upside down. She hung the towels on the drying frame and went back to the men in the living room.

Naruto and Sasuke were already in their dirty clothes and having an argument about something she didn't bother to listen. She turned on the kettle and took three mugs from her cupboard. "I'm assuming you're gonna stay here for a moment and drink tea with me", she said matter-of-factly and the men agreed.

She sat down on her couch and brought her knees to her chest. Naruto was sitting next to her and Sasuke was sitting on the other couch. "You haven't told us what you've been up to lately", the blond ninja said and poked her between her ribs with his elbow.

"Yeah. Well, I'm training, doing missions and learning about team leader stuff", she said smiling and drank some of her hot tea. Her eyes drifted to the raven haired Uchiha and he looked at her sternly. "What?" she asked.

"You might do well as a team leader", he said evenly and looked away. It startled her a little, he **never** complimented her on **anything**. She was purely shocked but hid it by smiling.

"Thanks."

"Anything else new?" Naruto asked. She felt like he was trying to ask about Genma but was too ashamed to. When Naruto and Sasuke had left the village and gone to their mission training thing, the Genma thing had been new. She had been just interested about him. She had been opening about the subject to the blond ninja and he had been happy to listen.

"I had or I'm having a thing with… him." With that sentence, Sasuke was staring at her and Naruto looked startled.

"Had or are having?" he asked carefully.

She tried to avoid their gazes and placed her mug on her coffee table. "Both", she said in a sad tone and looked at her mug, "it's nothing serious." She felt Naruto shifting on the couch and felt an arm on her shoulders. She turned her head to look at him and he looked sad. _'Why is he sad?'_ she thought.

"I'm sorry. I knew he'd do this to you", Naruto said and hugged her a little.

"I can rip his lungs out if you want to", Sasuke notified and they turned to stare at him dumbfounded. He never said anything that might reveal the fact that he actually is capable of caring.

"No, no, he hasn't done anything. Well, not that way. I mean…" she started to say but didn't know how to explain her sex life to her best friends. Now it was the men's turn to look at her dumbfounded. "What?" she asked. Her eyes glided from Sasuke to Naruto.

"It wasn't just one night?" the blond ninja asked.

"No. It's… for the past months… many nights but. I'm not the only one."

Suddenly, Naruto jumped from the couch and rushed toward the door. "I'll be ripping his lungs out. NOW!"

"Calm down!" she yelled at him and he stopped dead. "No one is ripping Genma's lungs. Not tonight. If I need his lungs to be ripped out, I'll ask you two to do it. Sasuke and rip the left side and you the right side but not now. I haven't even talked about him about this."

For an hour or so the men tried to convince her to speak her mind with the brown haired man but she couldn't be convinced. She knew what he was like and saying that she wanted more, it'd ruin their relationship. She was sure of it. And, she knew she felt a little bit too much for him to let him go now. _'Sex is better than nothing'_, she thought sadly.

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**A/N: Please give me some constructive criticism!! And tell me if you liked it! I'll update quite soon again! **


	3. Softer Side

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

**I know this chapter is A LOT shorter than what I usual write. But... I still like it. You'll get a peek of what's inside of Genma's mind. **

**Here are some songs that has inspired me :**

**Devil in Me - Kate Voegele**

**Forever and Almost Always - Kate Voegele**

**I Wouldn't Need You - Norah Jones **

**Do You Want the Truth Or Something Beautiful - Paloma Faith**

**Because I Want You - Placebo  
**

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"Why has the milk expired?" Sakura asked aloud while staring gloomily at the milk carton with an expired date. She couldn't drink her vanilla tea with milk before going to the grocery store. And, she didn't want to go anywhere before drinking tea.

She closed the open refrigerator door and glared at the stainless white door. "Don't you look that innocent," she hissed at the machine, "this is all your fault."

The pink haired woman walked hastily to the hallway and put her shoes on. She needed her daily dose of tea as soon as possible, preferably sooner. Grabbing the keys quickly from a small table placed next to the door and with that she was out.

The surprise of the day was to find Genma in the grocery store early in the morning. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and he seemed to be trying to figure out which chocolate to buy. As she stood in the end of the hallway of shelves looking at her… part-time-lover, a pang of jealousy washed over her. She knew very well that neither the chocolate nor the flowers would be given to her. But what made her angry was that he didn't even seem to realize she was watching him just a couple of meters away. Her anger grew by every passing second but she hid it carefully. Slowly, she walked to the older ninja.

"Hey", she said trying to sound as casual as she could in her state of mind.

"Hey", he replied and only glanced at her quickly. He didn't say anything else and she didn't know what to say either, which created an uncomfortable silence between them. Though, she was sure he didn't even realize she wasn't speaking.

Her anger turned into feeling incredibly stupid. '_I should've known'_, she kept repeating in her head. "Well", she said sighing, "I just came to buy some milk. This girl needs her tea. So, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah."

"Bye", she said and turned away. Heading toward the shelves where the milk was, she heard him saying "bye", too.

After she had bought the milk, she knew she couldn't just go home without finding out who he was giving the flowers and chocolate to. So, she hid her presence and went to the roof of the grocery store. She'd wait, follow him and find out what he was doing. She knew what she was doing was wrong but she was a woman and she couldn't help it, she needed to know.

It didn't take long for him to walk out of the store and reach her sight. She trailed him always at least 50 meters away. She leaped from rooftop to rooftop and sometimes on some trees but making sure no one saw her. The last thing she needed or wanted was to be discovered by anyone and worse, discovered by him.

He led her to the edge of the town to the suburb area. In Konoha there really weren't any suburbs but the place they went was the closest thing to one. There were a lot of big houses but with big yards and a lot space and there were a lot of trees so the houses weren't really near to each other.

He stopped walking in front of a big white house. There was a beautiful garden in front of the house. He just walked along the pathway to the main entrance. She saw him taking his keys from his pocket and for a moment, he just watched the keys and decided to ring the bell.

Another but bigger pang of jealousy crept into her system. A woman had given keys to him and now he was at her apartment bringing flowers and candy. To Sakura, it seemed like he was going there to say "thank you" with his characteristic way.

But as an older woman opened the door, she realized that wasn't the case. She saw him stepping in and closing the door. She jumped off the tree she had been hiding in and quietly crept to the mailbox to read the last name of the woman. With big golden letters there was Shiranui written on it and she felt like slapping herself. A quick glance through a window told her the woman was his mother and she didn't need to know more, her intention was to find out if he was having sex with someone else. And, apparently at least now, he wasn't.

***

"Your footsteps sound exactly like his", Emiko, his mother said as they walked to the living room. Genma was walking behind her and decided not to say anything. He didn't want to upset her. Anything he'd say considering **him**would upset her, eventually.

"I brought you flowers", he said trying to lighten up the mood.

Emiko sat on a big white armchair and glanced at him as he gave her the flowers. He turned around and walked to his usual seat. It was also a big armchair but it was on the other side of the coffee table.

"He used to bring me flowers, too", she said eyeing the flowers.

He fought the urge to sigh and yell at her. Her husband, his father wasn't coming back. He was gone. "Yes, mother, I remember", he said hoping she'd drop the subject. But she never did. Her world was about a dead man.

When his father, Yuu, had died during a mission, something had broken in his mother's body. Since then she'd space out for several minutes, she'd talk about him, sometimes she'd think Genma was Yuu himself. He hated it. All the pain his father had brought Emiko and even over a decade of his death he still had a hold on her.

"Why won't you ever talk about him?" she asked him and started at her son. With that question, he knew the visit would end up with a big fight. He'd try to make her see the light and be happy while she'd cry and say that he really didn't love his father. She'd accuse him for forgetting all about his father and say that Yuu would be disappointed in him.

"Because it upsets you."

"You can't control your emotions. Love, especially love", she said. She had said it to him for his whole life and he still disagreed.

'_You're wrong',_ he thought.

He was right and the visit ended with a small fight over his deceased father. And, as he stepped out of his childhood home, the only place he wanted to go was the memorial place.

He walked there quickly. He didn't feel like stop to talking with some acquaintances on the way. Fortunately for him, the memorial place was empty. Slowly, he walked to the memorial stone, his eyes traced on the names carved on the stone 'til they stopped on Shiranui Yuu.

He had died as a hero, sacrificing himself for his team. But at the same time, he had broken his wife's heart and forced his son to take care of his mother. To Genma, it wasn't right. Life wasn't supposed to be what it became.

'_I wish you'd never met her. She'd be happy right now'_, he thought and fought the urge to break the stone in front of him.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by his best friend. The silver haired ninja walked next to him his eye also fixed on the stone in front of them.

"How did it go?" Kakashi asked after some silent minutes.

"The usual. Ended with a fight."

"I'm sorry."

***

They went to the Jounin HQ only to find out that their pink haired friend had beaten them there and gotten the best mission. Genma got another enquiry mission and the Copy ninja got the worst mission possible; a rich man needing protection for his travels.

Kakashi's mission would start as soon as possible, whenever he felt like he was late enough. He had a day or two to himself but he wasn't sure when she'd leave for her mission. Though, he knew she'd leave on time or earlier and since she was practically sleeping on the sofa, she wasn't in a hurry. They all had cups of coffee and even though it never tasted any good at the HQ it was free so everyone kept on drinking it.

The brown haired ninja caught a glimpse of Sakura's mission file and saw it was S-ranked. It wasn't often that she went to S-ranked missions, alone. He found himself wondering if she'd be alright.

"You're boring company today", she sighed and placed her hands on her thighs, "I should go home and get ready."

"When are you leaving?" Genma asked.

"Tomorrow morning. Why?" she asked and raised an eyebrow. Something about her expression made him think of Kakashi.

"Just thought", he said while grinning his usual smile and shifting the senbon needle in his mouth.

"Will you be stopping by?" she asked and smiled back to him. And there it was the smile he couldn't resist.

'_That seductive smile'_, he thought and wondered how long it'd be 'til he'd be free to stop by and play. "Maybe I will", he answered.

"Alright. I need to go and get some sleep. Can't live on caffeine forever", she said and left the men alone.

"Her mission is s-ranked", Genma stated.

"Hmmm."

"Not worried?" he asked.

"No."

"Alright", the brown haired ninja said and figured that the Copy ninja knew the best when it came to his former student.

Genma had noticed that between Kakashi and Sakura had formed a friendship of some kind over the years. The Copy ninja never went to the hospital, he'd see her after his big missions. He'd walk her home after rough bar nights. And, she sometimes would go to his apartment and she'd cry her eyes out there. He knew all that because he had seen those moments happen.

His and Sakura's friendship had started through Kakashi. She'd burst to the Copy ninja's apartment while both of the men were there, she'd tell all her problems and he and Kakashi had listened. He had tagged along a couple of times when the Copy ninja had walked her home and after he'd walk home from there. Or walk back to her apartment when Kakashi had gone home.

* * *

Before it got dark in the evening, Genma found himself on Sakura's couch his head on her lap. His eyes were closed and he was drifting through some distant memories. Her legs felt warm and he had to fight to keep himself awake. It didn't help that she was humming some song and her fingers were in his hair. To him, it was very therapeutic and he started to wonder if it was a medical ninja thing; having the skill to make others relax.

"You alright?" she asked suddenly cutting his train of thought.

For a long moment, he kept his eyes closed and thought about her question. Why wouldn't he be okay? Had he done something wrong? "For all I know, yes", he murmured and realized he was really sleepy, "why are you asking?"

She laughed a little and he felt her body shift a little. By the sound of something gently hitting on the table, he figured out she had placed her book on the coffee table in front of them. "Well, first of all, you're acting weird. Normally, by now, you would've had my clothes ripped off of me."

"Hmmm", he hummed and realized she was right, "you want me to rip your clothes off?"

"Actually, this is quite nice. And you don't have the energy to even open your eyes."

She was right. It was nice just to lie there and let his body relax and thoughts drift. Also, she was right about him not having the energy to open his eyes. But, he knew he'd fall asleep on the couch if he couldn't hit the bed right away. "Can I crash here tonight?" he asked.

"Sure. Want to conquer my bed right now?" she asked laughing.

"Yes", he said and forced himself to open his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it! I'll update asap.**


	4. Upsidedown

**A/N: I'm back! I never stopped writing, just for you to know. And special thanks to my beta-reader whose ff-name I have completely forgotten. (Sorry Katie)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

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A sign of weakness. A lone tear escaped from the corner of her eye only to be chased by another; trying to resist the flow of tears only drove her to cry aloud. Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, it became stained with mascara. Under her breath she cursed and swore she'd never wear make-up ever again.

She wasn't deliberately trying to prevent herself from crying but she wished she could stop. And, wishing hard enough made her hold her breath for a couple of seconds only to cry out loudly again. Holding her breath, she found, also created a nasty burn in her throat she wished to avoid. The easiest way out seemed to be let her body fall on her bed and bury her head in her pillow. That was exactly what she decided to do.

A hand on the small of her back was what woke her up.

Kakashi was sitting on the bed next to her.

"I'm a mess", she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Not the first time", he pointed out smirking. She laughed a little at his remark. It truly wasn't the first nor the last time. Every time something major had occurred, which made her _somewhat_ upset, he had always been there.

But her expression grew darker and the current situation occupied her foremost thoughts.

"So, you heard."

He only nodded and turned his gaze away. He had always feared this day would come. Genma breaking Sakura's heart, their friendship, and its simplicity changing. Though when his friends had started this thing, seeing that he had had no other women than the pink haired one, there had arisen a small glimpse of hope in him that maybe she would be able to tame Genma.

He forced his thoughts to drift back to his ex-student and the current situation, he asked, "Have you eaten anything?"

"No", she admitted.

"Wash your face. We're going out. You need to eat." Kakashi notified in a tone he used only when he was dead serious. He knew she wouldn't even try to resist him.

XXXXX

Naruto was gritting his teeth and squeezing his fists, blunt nails biting into the flesh. Otherwise, he was remaining his composure. He was standing next to Sasuke and he was very well aware that if he dashed after Genma, his friend would fight him. He couldn't take two ANBU-ranked ninjas; not today.

"Calm down", the raven haired ninja commanded of his friend.

They had been sparring together and while returning back to the village, they had spotted Genma and Mimi together. They had been all over each other, which had made duo angry at the older ninja, but also protective toward their friend, Sakura. Neither of the ninjas wanted her to see what they were seeing.

"We warned her about this", the blond ninja exclaimed. Sasuke grabbed his arm and held him still.

"Yes, we did."

"And now it happened!"

"Yeah."

"You think she knows?" Naruto asked his attitude and mood changing completely from anger to worry. His friend let go of his arm sensing the "danger" having vanished.

"Knowing how fast rumors spread around here, yes."

The blond ninja sighed aloud and watched as the "culprits" walked away.

"Let's go back to sparring", Naruto said sighing. He was too agitated to do anything else but try to beat Sasuke up. Naturally, as he was denied of attacking Genma, Sasuke was the next best choice.

"Hmm. I'm still worried", Sasuke said surprising his friend with his choice of words. It was rarely when the Uchiha prodigy talked about his feelings; showing or expressing his concern for others was even rarer.

"Well, Kakashi said he'd hang out with her today."

And they were on their way back to the woods. Both of them trusted their former teacher knew how to handle Sakura. Not to mention, both of them were brimming with adrenaline due to anger and they needed to burn it off.

The Copy ninja couldn't understand the fascination of sharpening kunais, not even to save his life. He had gotten the woman out of the house, he had gotten her to eat and now she was on the ground sharpening his kunais. She had swiped his pockets clean of weapons and now she was just sharpening them. She wasn't crying or talking; and although he didn't know much about women he did know that silence like that meant no good.

He took his beloved book from his pocket and flipped it open. Though he felt confident enough to focus in his book, he kept glancing her every once in a while just to make sure nothing unexpected would happen.

Getting comfortable in the world of vivid characters and situations, her sudden outburst surprised him. "God, he's such a… a… And I can't believe that I even! And how could I ever even thought…? And all is supposed to be well in world? Well it's not!"

He just stared at her not knowing exactly what to think. He hadn't been comfortable with her dead silence but he sure as hell wasn't comfortable with her irate behavior! He didn't even have an idea what she was raging on about. Well, he knew what she was raging about but he couldn't answer because her thoughts ran too fast for her mouth to speak them.

He placed his book back into the pocket and stood up from the ground. He walked to the seething woman. She was holding her hands on top of her head and watching into the distance.

Kakashi swung his arm at her fast and smoothly and just as he swung it, she blocked it looking at him with narrowed eyes. He didn't pause for any answer or questions. Taking a small step backwards he tried to land a low kick on her knee but she avoided it by jumping.

"I don't want to fight you!", she screamed as she avoided another kick of his.

"Attack me!"

"No!"

As she kept avoiding his attacks, he grew frustrated. He knew she needed to channel her anger toward Genma to somewhere, preferably to him. So, he decided to do something that would make her mad. With a few simple hand signs he performed Henge no Jutsu transforming his looks identical to Genma's.

"That's low", she growled but as he had wished, she attacked him. She lunged at him with such speed and precision that, for a moment, made him forget she used to be his student. Now, he was the one to trying to avoid her attacks. Either the ground was cracking under him or she was trying to land a blow on his side. There was a good chance that he'd get a few broken ribs and other bones if he didn't stay sharp. He knew perfectly well, she'd heal him alright but also he knew all she saw at the moment was Genma. And all she wanted to do was kill him. He had never cared for pain or scars so he rearranged his hitai-ate letting his left eye see.

They stuck only to hand to hand combat. She made no real efforts to fool him with a low kick and then punching him with an elbow, yet. Though he was breaking a sweat and he could see that she was too. He thought it'd be best to end the fight soon or they both would be nearly comatose later. And, then it came; her left fist made impact on his cheek.

A flash of pain exploded in his cheek and he was sure he'd lose his eyes, too. The world became blurry and he was sure time had stopped.

"Oh my God!" he heard her yelping. He felt too nauseous to stand so he sat down on the ground and decided to concentrate on breathing for a while.

"Can you hear me? Oh fuck. What did I do? Gosh. Hold on", she mumbled and he could feel her healing him.

"I'm not dead, Sakura", he laughed out. She responded something but he didn't listen. He was watching into the distance, first only seeing colors, then shapes and slowly the shapes grew outlines.

Suddenly, she started laughing. He watched her dumbfounded as she fell on her back on the grassy ground and laughed.

"Sakura?", he asked not sure if he should be worried or laugh, too.

"Nothing, nothing. This was fun", she said smiling after awhile. She wiped the corners of her eyes and got up from the ground.

"Yeah, it was."

XXXX

The sheets were twisted around her legs. She could hear her alarm clock ticking loudly. Every shape and shadow was as distinct as if the room was illuminated by daylight. She didn't dare to look at the clock, she knew it way past night time and closing in on early morning. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined him lying there by her side. And she wanted to snuggle closer, feel someone's warmth but the reality was that she was alone. Her mind was playing tricks on her.

How had the whole situation developed into what it was? She couldn't stop thinking about him, wanting his presence around and it seemed like he couldn't care less. Just in a few weeks, the universe had changed the situation upside-down. She tried not to let her mind drift into the near past where he'd sleep next to her and brew coffee in the mornings.

She tossed onto her other side on the bed. She was getting angry. She hated lying alone on the bed whenever she was angry. Jumping off of the bed, she decided to get some answers; she grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top from the floor.

Her anger and hurt had driven the common sense away from her. She was dashing to his apartment ready to tear walls and burn bridges down. She was also too absent minded to realize she was being followed until she bumped into Kakashi. She had no idea how long he had been standing on the road she was running along.

"Gawd! What are you doing here?" she screamed at him.

"Walking."

"Awesome! There's a lot of road behind me!" she was still screaming. She couldn't stop now, she needed to kill the burning feeling inside of her.

"Sakura", he said quietly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to steady her down. "Whatever you're doing… Don't."

The anger was building within her. She didn't want to direct it to Kakashi. Part of her knew how amazing he was being but she couldn't stop herself from trying to swing her fist to the side of his head. He blocked it and stared at her intently. First, her anger only grew bigger but without her knowing it started to change itself into something else. Before she could realize the change her lips were already on his.

Within seconds his mask was pulled down, she was sucking his tongue, biting his lower lip. Had she been able to form any coherent thoughts, she would've been shocked at the fact that he was kissing her back. And, he was amazingly good at it. Heat. The sultry feeling was back, it was there and she felt it in every fiber and pore of her being.

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**A/N: I'd really really like your thoughts about this story, but if you're too busy to spare me a few words, that's okay! You'll be hearing (reading) from me again!**


	5. Ready to Let You Go

**A/N: I'm back. Or well, I was never gone. I hope you like it. And, thank you for your reviews!  
**

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With one eye open she peered through the room searching for her possibly worst mistake of all. The walls of the room were white and he had a few brown shelves on the walls, a nightstand and a big brown armoire. Blue curtains were drawn to cover the windows, which cast the room in faint blue hue.

Seeing that Kakashi wasn't in the room, she relaxed a little and closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. She realized that however Kakashi acted, it would determine their relationship from now onwards.

It was warm underneath the covers but the rest of the room felt chilly. It made her want to stay burrowed beneath the covers forever but she needed to confront him. If she didn't get up she was going to be exposed to his presence sooner or later. She inhaled deeply letting her body enjoy the last seconds of the soft warmth the bed and covers provided her. She let her right arm drift towards the floor as she grabbed the first piece of clothing she came into contact with. It seemed to be a shirt, not hers, but it would have to suffice.

Reluctantly, she got out of the bed and threw the shirt on. '_Panties… where are my panties?'_, she thought while eyeing the room. Her gaze drifted from the bed, to the floor, and then to the other side of the bedroom where her former teacher was smirking at her. Kakashi was leaning on the doorframe holding out two things; in his left hand was a big cup, _coffee_, she guessed and his right hand's index finger was holding a small piece of lacy black clothing.

"Which one you want? Coffee or these?" he asked still smirking. His mask was gone and he had a god-like jawline and soft pink lips. Every time she saw his face completely, it caught her by surprise. Every time. There weren't a lot of those days when he had shown it to her, albeit she had seen it a few times either when he had a really bad hangover, when he was kissing some girl or when they were had dinner at his apartment.

"So, it's either or?" she asked playfully. Her nervousness vanished. The feeling of regret was also fading away as she realized that almost nothing had changed in their relationship. She could talk to him and he was still comfortable enough to show his face to her. For a moment she had actually thought that she had ruined everything between them.

"You can't put these on while you're drinking this. It's dangerous", he said thoughtfully while showing the objects, the emphasis was on the word _dangerous_. She understood his sarcasm and took it as a challenge.

"Watch me.", she laughed. She took the mug and the panties from his hands, while bringing the mug to her lips and taking a sip from the liquid bliss, she dropped her panties to the floor. Sakura tiptoed onto the panties and swiftly pulled them up.

* * *

The walk to the Jounin headquarters seemed the longest of her life. It was as if time had decided to stop but had forgotten to tell her go slower, too. Having too much time to think about the men in her life, she was coming to realize things she would've gladly understood later. Much later. It started being painfully obvious that nothing would be the same with her and Genma again. A big part of her would miss everything about their relationship. She had also understood a thing about herself; even if Genma ever wanted what they had back, she wouldn't dare. When it came to that certain man, she wanted more. But as her thoughts slipped away to Kakashi, she wasn't sure what to think or if she should think at all.

Frustrated with herself she kicked a pinecone, dirt and debris flittering about. Her eyes following its movement, she soon found herself looking at cute pair of white sandals and then her friend, Ino.

"Absentminded, sad or hung over?", the blonde haired ninja laughed.

Sakura smiled widely at the thought of someone knowing her that well. "Nope, no and no", she laughed a little, "Where are you going?" But before Ino could even answer, Sakura had already locked her arm with Ino's and gently pulling her to downtown. _'No time to be alone'_, she thought smiling.

"Just to get some coffee, you coming with me?"

"Of course!" the blue eyed woman said smiling and tugged her friend's arm, pulling her toward their destination.

As they walked to a café Sakura saw something or someone she'd rather see never. The wind was playing with long brown hair, a stunning woman with piercing brown eyes was staring at them. She had a few freckles on her face, which made her look the more beautiful. Kagami, Genma's on-off-lover. Sakura had grown up adoring Kagami, she was a few years her superior, but famous.

A week ago she had come home from her mission, wanting to talk to Genma about their relationship but only to find out that Kagome was back. And he was back with her. She hadn't spoken to him since.

"Do you wanna go somewhere else?" Ino asked as she noticed what her friend had seen, too.

"Too late", the pink haired woman said as Kagami nodded at them politely and began walking to them.

'_I've got your back. Plus you're much, much prettier.'_ The blonde ninja said in her mind. Ino had been expirementing with her family jutsus and skills. She had come up with an amazing way to talk to people in their minds. Though nobody could answer her silently, time to time, her skill had proven to be irreplaceable. She didn't even to make any hand signs, she had explained that she did them in her mind, which had the same effect.

"So you must be Yamanaka Ino", Kagami said smiling, "I've heard a lot about the Yamanokas. Maybe we can spar sometime?"

Sakura was mortified for several reasons; one, the woman just took the man she loved, two, she was stealing her friends, three on top of being extremely beautiful, she was genuinely nice. She felt bad for hating her, which made her want to hate her more.

"I'd be honored", the blonde ninja replied. _'No, never, no, no. Or if I was to spar with her, it would be to find out her weaknesses so you can beat her up.' _Ino notified her friend silently.

"And, you are Haruno Sakura, I presume", the woman said still smiling. There was no hint of insincerity in her smile.

"Yes", was all the jade eyed woman managed to say.

"It was really nice meeting you two but I'm in a hurry so I really should go. But it was really nice meeting you!"

The friends mumbling a reply, something equally as nice.

When she was far enough not to overhear them, Sakura was first to speak, "Why does she have to be so fucking nice?" She stared at her friend with her eyes flaming. Her friend shrugged and gave Sakura a gentle push to her back guiding her into the coffee shop.

"I don't know, I don't care. Love you, hate her", Ino sighed as if life really was that simple.

* * *

Genma's hands were shoved deep into his pockets while walking to town to sign up for a mission. He didn't have his trademark senbon needle in his mouth for once. He was gritting his teeth together and flashbacking to the night before and the consequent morning after. Aggravated and annoyed about the events, he tried to shove them into the back of his mind and solve them at the same time.

FLASHBACK

_Kagome was lying on his bed, naked. Her long hair was messy and tangled, sexy to be completely honest. Her skin was glistening from a light perspiration and under normal circumstances, nothing was more appealing. He was lying on his back, as bare as she. Whereas she was happy and satisfied, he was annoyed, angry and bothered. _

_She could always do anything to him and he'd feel like he was in heaven. First time in… ever, he couldn't just simply enjoy sex. Well, okay, he enjoyed it but he couldn't reach his climax. She had done everything, straddling, licking, reversed, missionary, upside-_down_ and blindfolded. But, the most bothersome part was that he had lost "the wind". That had never happened to him, not even when he was a teenager. _

_She moved closer to him and kissed the skin on his side, moving up and soon reaching his lips. "Hey, come on", she said in between kisses, "we can try again." Genma didn't bother to reply to her kisses, he just sighed. _

"_You ok?", she asked and he could hear the concern in her voice. _

"_Yes, fine", he said monotonously and climbed off the bed. He walked straight into the bathroom dodging other questions he knew she had in store for him. _

THE END OF THE FLASHBACK

He knew what was going on. He was having a crisis. The only way he knew how to deal crises was to sign up for an assassination mission. He didn't feel like being around people but walking downtown promised just that. He would listen, smile and bite his tongue until he was alone once again.

* * *

"Have you read the news? The hit list was made by some kid in Earth country", Ino heard some woman gossiping. She almost chocked on her coffee.

Sakura stood there dumbfounded just staring at her friend.

"You heard that?", the blonde ninja asked after coughing the remnants of coffee from her lungs.

"Uh-huh, I did."

The blonde ninja exhaled strongly, which she always did whenever she was about to have a fit. She squeezed the paper cup holding her coffee but realized to stop before the hot contents would burn her skin.

"I guess we should be happy. No danger afterall. But Shino's been having SOME OF US WORKING OVERTIME TRYING TO FIGURE THIS SITUATION OUT. THAT FRICKIN' KID HAS COST ME OVER 100 HOURS OF MY LIFE!", Ino was yelling.

The by-passers were giving them alarmed looks and hurrying their steps to get far away from the angry ninja. Ino seemed to be oblivious to this and Sakura couldn't help it but she felt like smiling. Her friend was adorable when she was angry, somehow it always cheered her up. But she had to fight the urge to smile or laugh because the harmless meltdown would turn into something not so harmless.

Sakura just bit her lip and kicked the small rocks on the pavement. The ground was dark from the rain in the morning. There were small puddles of water here and there. She looked up the sky and watched the dark clouds; a single droplet of water fell on her forehead reminding her that she needed to take a shower whenever she got home. Another drop hit her nose and before they could think of running for cover, hard rainfall erupted from the clouds above them.

"Jounin headquarters!" Sakura said and they ran.

They hadn't been the only ones near to the Jounin headquarters seeking for shelter from the pouring rain. It was full of drenched ninjas and civilians. Carefree chattering filled the hall. Some of the people were wrapped up in blankets and cradling a hot beverage. A few not so drenched ninjas were working. It was unusual for the hall to be so full of people and so many civilians. Normally if non ninjas came there, they were requesting for assistance and that's when the ninjas were signed up on missions.

Ino and Sakura's hair were drenched wet just like their clothes.

"Go get towels, I'll get some tea", Ino said squeezing her ponytail, forming puddle of water on the floor.

"Sure", the pink haired woman said and headed to the supplies rooms.

The supplies were for emergencies but it was okay to use them as long as the used items were replaced. There were three supplies rooms and by the amount of people in towels in the hall she figured the first would be empty. She opened the door the second one without even peeking in to the first room.

She was surprised to bump into Genma in the small room. Equally as surprised he was looking at her.

The first thing she managed to say was: "Sorry". But he only smiled at her. "What?" she asked while praying silently she wasn't blushing.

"Nothing, nothing", he said still smiling, "came to get a towel?"

"Yep", she said and nodded as he turned to take a towel behind him. He gave it to her. "I need two, actually", Sakura said and grinned.

He gave her another one and looked at her as if she was supposed to do or say something. "Thank you", she said quickly but he just looked at her. "Um… I should go", she said and turned around to walk out the small room. But he was faster, he closed the door and she found herself leaning on it her back against it. He was so close to her she could feel his body radiating warmth.

"Genma", she sighed, "don't you remember?"

He looked puzzled, "remember what?"

"Ka", she said the first syllable as he took a step to her, now they were touching. He lightly kissed her neck. "Go", she said the second syllable. He nuzzled her neck dangerously; she had loved it whenever he did that. Still loved, actually. "Me", she said finally. He hesitated for a moment but didn't move away. The longer they were so close, the harder it became for her to gather her will power and move away. He placed another kiss on her neck. _Fire._ She dropped the towels she had been holding on to.

She tried to gather herself, her thoughts her act. She stared at the wall behind him. The whole wall was one big shelf made of wood painted white. Concentrating on the contents of the shelves as the love of her life was kissing her was really difficult. Quickly, he placed his hands on the back of her thighs and pulled her up while her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.

"You're beautiful", he said and kissed her on the lips this time. She had no will power whatsoever to resent him. But as the fire and need grew, Kagome's face popped in and out of her mind.

"You can't do this", she said after nudging him to stop and pushing his face away from hers. Though, she couldn't bring herself move away from the intimate position they shared.

"I've done it before", he said and she realized he had no idea what she was talking about.

"And that makes it okay? Like I don't matter. I don't want to be the other girl!"

Genma just stared at her, at first she thought he was letting her words sink in but as he said nothing and kept on looking at her, she felt her anger building up. She hit him a couple of times to the chest and pushed him away breaking their position. He took a step back, "Sakura, I—"

She cut him off before he could finish his sentence, "—I can't do this. I just can't."


End file.
